A Stretton teacher has fulfilled his dream by publishing his first children's book – and locals will be pleased to know Swadlincote, Brian Clue and Skaggyness Albion get special mentions.

Andrew Hartshorn, a teacher at Stanton Primary School, said he first gained the inspiration to put pen to paper after his pupils urged him to take his story-telling further.

The 46-year-old would occasionally read to his students whenever he had spare time and said pupils would often encourage him to tell his own stories instead.

The front of the book

He said: "I would offer to read to them, and they would ask me if I could tell one of my own stories.

"When I was teaching in Skegness I'd make up stories about how Skegness has its very own batman that lives in the cupboard but he ate so much McDonald's that he could never get out the cave. That's what started it really."

Mr Hartshorn taught in Skegness until 2007 before jetting off to Madrid for three years where he continued to tell stories.

He then went to teach in Geneva, Switzerland where the idea of Wibble Street was born and asked the students to make up their own characters.

He said: "It was them who really urged me to write the story down. They really liked the characters and the stories. I promised myself I would at some point."

The back of the book

It was not until Andrew fell ill and was in hospital for a while that he began drafting his book, Welcome to Wibble Street: The Magpie Has Landed.

With the first draft finished, Andrew took the book to Shobnall Primary School where he let a group of year six pupils review a few chapters.

"On their feedback I made a few changes," Andrew said.

"Some of the feedback they gave was very useful. I made a few changes based on that."

Now available on eBay and Amazon, Welcome to Wibble Street: The Magpie Has Landed tells the story of George, a ten-year-old boy who has lived in Wibble Street, Skaggyness, all his life.

Forbidden to leave Skaggyness, George was never able to make any friends, until Billy moved into the street.